As I told you when I went into Macedonia, I want you to stay there in Ephesus. I need you to command certain people not to teach things that aren’t true and not to spend their time on made-up stories
If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes, then what did I gain by that? If the dead aren’t raised, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we’ll die.”
Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus because didn’t want to spend too much time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem because he wanted to be there if possible by the day of Pentecost.
“Write this to the angel of the church in Ephesus: These are the words of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
The voice said, “Write what you see on a scroll and send it to the seven churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
But you’ve seen and heard what this man Paul is doing. Here in Ephesus and almost everywhere in the province of Asia he has led large numbers of people away from our gods. He says that gods made by human hands aren’t gods at all.
When the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about this, they were all overcome with fear. It led them to hold the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor.
Finally the city clerk quieted down the crowd. “People of Ephesus!” he said. “The whole world knows that our city guards the temple of the great Artemis and the statue of her that fell from heaven.